Farewell, Australia

After a year of living in Australia, I finally waved farewell late last night. Accordingly, Jetstar gave me the very service I expected of them, consistent with my previous experiences of flying with them. After they flew me from Hobart to Melbourne, they refused to allow me to board the plane to Christchurch because I didn’t have a copy of my onward travel documentation – it was ever so kind of them to allow me fly to a new place before telling me this. Unfortunately they couldn’t help with internet or a way of pulling up evidence of tickets, so a mad dash ensued, after which I was told I had missed check in. I pointed out that the plane still had half an hour of sitting on the runway before take-off, but I was told it was impossible to board at that time.

I have flown with Jetstar three times. The first time they cancelled my flight and refused to give a refund; the second time I missed check in by a few seconds due to having a hyphenated name, a flight delay, and a ridiculously long line of people ahead of me – even though the flight was delayed by forty-five minutes (meaning I was seventy-five minutes early for a domestic flight), I wasn’t allowed to board; and this experience was the third time. Ten minutes before take-off, we informed them that our visas were expiring at midnight (which was true) at which point they realised we would be breaking the law – because of them. Guess what? They let us on the plane at this point despite their ‘unchangeable’ rules. We sprinted to the plane.

Jetstar are the worst airline I have ever encountered, but I apologise, I must stop my moaning. I am in a new country and excited for what lies ahead.

Australia was a year of working and I found it challenging. Not because I don’t like working, but because the work I was doing was rather mundane. I lived in Western Australia and the Northern Territory for the majority of the time, not loving the experience, but finally found Tasmania, a special place of great beauty. I wish I found it earlier. We hiked, explored, and left with great memories.

What will I miss most about Australia, aside from Tasmania? The good people I came across from various parts of the globe. Until next time…

Farewell, Australia, I leave for New Zealand and a bicycle. Bring on those mountains.

By | 2016-02-12T11:27:39+00:00 February 12th, 2016|Thoughts and Inspiration|2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Nik 02/08/2016 at 14:23 - Reply

    Yes Jetstar are incredible – try tiger next time they could be even more pedantic. They are a real adventure, will we fly or wo n’t we ? Check in 15 mins earlier or you are off. Or Garuda . They cancelled our flight from UK. With Qantas I usually recover my luggage from Auckland New Zealand, regardless of destination, whether I have arrived in Sydney or LA ! Very consistent yet somewhat inconvenient . My business hosts in Orange County greeted me in suits… They must have been really impressed with my trendy track suit and behaved as if they did not notice . It was all I had left ! and a pair of swimming trunks definitely not for the boardroom. However this funny 4 minute clip from Rhod Gilbert takes the biscuit !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcA-LE3eZxo I hope you enjoy it. Sri Lanka kindly checked me on to a flight to Manilla. Unfortunately my boarding pass was for Brisbane! Oh well, I had never visited Manilla before …. never look a gift horse in the mouth.
    On the plus side, Thai generously reinstated my recent missed flight from Heathrow to Brisbane so there is always a sunny as well as a funny side to these situations.
    Thank you Thai Airways , you are superb, next to Qatar Air, who were outstanding. Happy travels … Life is an adventure ! Here is a link to Rhod’s comedy again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfBwGZa-tDI:

    • Nik 02/08/2016 at 14:32 - Reply

      Remember in the history of aviation no one has ever actually beaten the aircraft taxi- ing back to the terminal after landing, so why not stay seated and relax until the plane docks with the gate;
      and refrain from sticking your backside in some unfortunates ear

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